Sex Work is Not the Same as Sexual Exploitation
As someone who has worked freely as a sex worker and someone who has experienced sexual exploitation, I can say unequivocally: the two are not the same.
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Memorial Students Rejected a Bad Proposal, Not a U-Pass Program
If you’re disappointed with the results of the recent U-Pass student vote at Memorial, don’t be disappointed with the students. It’s good news that 51% of eligible voters participated, and it means that 71% of those students voting “No” is a clear rejection of the proposal by the student body. However, this vote can only tell us how students felt about this proposal. It does not tell us how students feel about a U-Pass in general. Students did not support the specific U-Pass program proposed by Memorial University, Metrobus, and the City of St. John’s because of ineffective communication, inappropriate pricing, and inadequate scope to address the core transit issue: that all true growth opportunities for Metrobus ridership lie outside the current service area. Metrobus and the City have been thinking about U-Pass programs as a means of improving public transit since at least 2011. One of the recommendations in…
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“We’re working as if this is our time”: Sharpe
Young candidates focus on social justice, climate change and democratic reform, offering voters a new path in building a healthy and sustainable city.
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Why won’t the Province pay up?
“As the capital city, St. John’s hosts a big proportion of our most important provincial facilities, but the province has chosen to pass the disproportionate tax burden of the associated services directly onto city taxpayers.”
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Time to close the wage gap
Women in Newfoundland and Labrador are more likely to be university educated and substantially more employed than men in the province, yet face higher rates of poverty and lower rates of pay.
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“Don’t be Trashy”: Unpacking St. John’s new recycling campaign
The City’s latest effort to encourage recycling reveals deeper issues with the way women are engaged in municipal politics and programming.
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God Help Us
Flying a flag should be a statement, not a policy.
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Anglican Church’s flag on government buildings galling and hypocritical
“Considering the Anglican Church’s history of endorsing religious violence and its ongoing role in the suppression of gay rights, I believe it’s wrong for our secular governments to align themselves with this organization.”
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More protests planned as City responds to budget backlash
City of St. John’s finance committee chair says council will consider taking grant money from other sectors to reinstate its arts investment, but residents say that’s not good enough.
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“Please, Mr. O’Keefe, Mr. Galgay, and your other sleeping friends: Resign.”
Former Great Big Sea member and small business owner Bob Hallett says homeowners and business owners in St. John’s feel “abused and neglected” in the wake of city council’s municipal budget. He is calling for the mayor and councillors’ resignation.
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The State of the Arts: Fight or Flight?
The City of St. John’s recent handling of a public art installation and council’s arbitrary budget cuts to arts funding have spurred major resistance from artists in Canada’s most colourful and creative city. Some say decision-makers’ disregard for the arts could prompt artists to leave Newfoundland altogether.
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City of St. John’s buries environment, again
It was only a few years ago we discovered St. John’s City Council had ‘forgotten’ it’s own mandate to have an Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) — a handy vehicle that was brought back to ensure important environmental issues were properly considered and addressed.
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Bike Lanes: Déjà-vu all over again
As municipalities across the country try to encourage active transportation, why does it still feel like bicycles are Public Enemy #1 in St. John’s? Robin Whitaker reflects on the latest attempt of some city councillors to weaken our barely-existent bicycle infrastructure.
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“When we can bicycle, bicycle”
Cycling is good for our health, the environment, the economy, and all the cool kids are doing it. So why the hold up in making St. John’s a bike-friendly city?
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Aspiring to inspire: municipal politics at election time
St. John’s needs strong leadership now more than ever. Strong leadership needs to be based on strong ideas. Both appear to be in short supply.
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Fences and neighbours
At the end of the day, it seems as though this isn’t a story about an unsightly metal-and-plexiglass barrier. It appears to be a story about a group of people presuming to treat citizens like subjects.
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Get Off The Fence!
With the St. John’s Port Authority under fire, its determination to fence the harbour has illuminated an otherwise opaque actor in city affairs. And its broader mandate may require greater flexibility than it’s been willing to show so far.
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City of St. John’s announces surplus
St. John’s City Councillor Bruce Tilley says the city is recording a surplus of $7-million up to June, and is projecting a continued surplus to the end of the year. Also on deck for St. John’s, tonight the Council will consider a number of proposals for approval including a new chiropractic clinic on Major’s Path and an indoor bicycle and skateboard facility, this time for Water Street west. Source: VOCM
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One small falafel for you; one giant leap for St. John’s
City Hall needs to start supporting local small business, not fighting it
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It’s OK to fill uncleared sidewalks with snow
Do you live in downtown St. John’s and have nowhere to put your snow? Well, here’s a clarification to the snow removal by-law. The issue at hand was initially raised in city council two weeks ago, but it resurfaced yesterday after residents brought up concerns that they had nowhere to shovel or deposit the snow on their properties. Councillor Gerry Colbert says the rules regarding where homeowners can place snow have not changed — but the enforcement has. He says that people will only be fined if they fill in cleared streets or sidewalks. Otherwise, Colbert says, it’s OK to fill the sidewalks if they have not yet been cleared. And, note this: the city will clear the snow a second time around, but the bill for doing so will be sent to the snow pusher. Ouch.
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